CHRIST

christ, wilhelm von (1831-1906), german classical scholar, was born in geisenheim in hesse-nassau on the 2nd of august 1831. from 1854 till 1860 he taught in the maximiliansgymnasium at munich, and in 1861 was appointed professor of classical philology in the university. his most important works are his _geschichte der griechischen literatur_ (5th ed., 1908 f.), a history of greek literature down to the time of justinian, one of the best works on the subject; _metrik der griechen und romer_ (1879); editions of pindar (1887); of the _poetica_ (1878) and _metaphysica_ (1895) of aristotle; _iliad_ (1884). his contributions to the _sitzungsberichte_ and _abhandlungen_ of the bavarian academy of sciences are particularly valuable. see o. crusius, _gedachtnisrede_ (munich, 1907). christadelphians ([greek: christou adelphoi], "brothers of christ"), sometimes also called thomasites, a community founded in 1848 by john thomas (1805-1871), who, after studying medicine in london, migrated to brooklyn, n.y., u.s.a. there he at first joined the "campbellites," but afterwards struck out independently, preaching largely upon the application of hebrew prophecy and of the book of revelation to current and future events. both in america and in great britain he gathered a number of adherents, and formed a community which has extended to several english-speaking countries. it consists of exclusive "ecclesias," with neither ministry nor organization. the members meet on sundays to "break bread" and discuss the bible. their theology is strongly millenarian, centering in the hope of a world-wide theocracy with its seat at jerusalem. holding a doctrine of "conditional immortality," they believe that they alone have the true exegesis of scripture, and that the "faith of christendom" is "compounded of the fables predicted by paul." no statistics of the community are published. it probably numbers from two to three thousand members. a monthly magazine, _the christadelphian_, is published in birmingham. see r. roberts, _dr thomas, his life and work_ (1884).